NOS D hubcaps going crazy...

[dspillman]

Chris,

the third is coming to my house.....the fourth will come to auction in 5 days or so....

Find a good used set...$200-$300 have them refinished for another $1000....not much difference in price in my eyes.

david

[xray]

I am just glad mine is a 72...The "Z" centered ones seem a little more plentiful than the 70-71 "D" types.

[26th-Z]

Find a good used set...$200-$300 have them refinished for another $1000....not much difference in price in my eyes.

david

I hear ya! And that is my plan. A friend just paid $1200 and they are seriously drop dead gorgeous. They will be in Syracuse.

Might we take the time to go over some old thread material for everyone's interest? The 'D' hubcap represents Datsun's initial wheel cover appearing on cars built up to mid 1971. The center hub sports a round plastic emblem with the letter D. The pressed metal spoked design was also used for a chromed hexagon symbol in the center and a few hubcaps are simply painted black with no emblem. Only the 'D' centers appeared in the American market.

The stamped steel is chromed on both sides with lacquer paint finish on the outside spokes. The hubcaps press fit to the standard steel wheel using a series of spring clips around the circumference. The earliest metal stampings were bent with fairly large spaces between the clips - almost like a series of tabs. These caps had a tendency to fall off under hard cornering and were soon replaced with the later design offering more clips and much less space between them.

The original chrome finish is typical of Datsun cost saving techniques of the time. Inspection "ken" markings are typically inked on the inside. Used hubcaps suffer from rust and brake dust corrosion. The paint finish does adhere to the chrome very well, but suffers from age. The plastic center 'D's were chromed plastic painted satin black on the surround. They pin through holes in the hubcap and metal backer clips. Generally speaking, they are fragile and a serious pleasure to find used in good condition.

All of these pictures can be found in various threads on this site.